Hand-brake.



J. F. OCONNOR.

HAND BRAKE.

APPLICATION min APR.21.|918.

1,300,476. Patnted Apr. 15,1919.

INVENTOR. W1 TNBSES: f5 Jahn l1" n/Mr UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.'

NEW YORK.

JOHN F. ocoNNoa, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoa To WILLIAM II. MINI-Ia, or cnam?,

Hann-BRAKE.

Application led Apr127, 1918.Y Serial No. 231,108.V

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, .JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chica o, in the county of Cook and State of Il mois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hand-Brakes, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, fornung a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hand brakes.

One object of the invention is to rovlde a winding mechanism, more particularly adapted for use as a hand brake for railway cars and wherein the brake chain is tightened to any desired yextent by one element and the final tension applied by another ele-4 ment affording a higher leverage ratio.

Another and more specific object of the invention is to provide `a handbrake 'for railway cars, wherein the 'brake chain is primarily wound up or tightened by a hand wheel until a. considerable tension is developed, the final tension on'the brake chain being effected by a lever affording a considerably higher leverage ratio.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a brake showing the relative position of the parts occupied on the wall of a box or other freight car. Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailed, sectional view, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 4 is a detail perspective of one of the elements employed with the mechanism.

In said drawing, 10 denotes a vertical wall of a Abox car or other freight car to which the hand brake is shown applied. The brake, as shown, consists, broadly, of a housing A, a chain winding drum B, a hand wheel C, a lever D, a locking dog E, and a curved rack F.

The casing A is of substantially semicylindrical form having a front wall 11 and rear wall 12, the latter being suitably perforated to receive connecting rivets 13 for attaching the casing to the car wall.

Rotatably mounted within the casing A is the chain` Winding drum or spool B, the latter being carried by` a post 14 of substantially square cross section throughout the greater portion of its length and with av cy- Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919,

lindrical bearing portion 15 at one-end, said post being centrally recessed toy receive the retaining bolt 16. The drum B andpostf14.- are assembled so that thedrum and post will rotate in unison due to the 4'interfitting squared section. At its inner end, the 'cylindrical bearing 15 ofthe post is mounted in a bearing 17, the latter forming a bearing for one arm 18 of the upper forked endlof the lever D. The other arm 19 of the forked lever is rotatably mounted on a bushing 2O fitted over the post 14 and itself journaled in a suitable bearing provided in the outer 'wall 11 of the casing A. The lower side of the casing A is left open in order to permit en'- trance of the brake chain, the upper link 21 pif which is shown attached to the drum in *i 2.

n order to effect the preliminary winding of the chain and to impose a considerable degree of tension thereon, the said post 14 'has applied thereto a hand wheel C, the hand Wheel and all the other parts being held in assembled relation by said |bolt, 16 which entends through the inner wall of the casing A and also preferably through the wall of the car. The hub of the wheel C is formed with a ratchet wheel 22. With this ratchet wheel coperates the dog E, the dog E being pivotally mounted on an extension 23 of the fork 19, as indicated at 24. The dog E is of the gravity-controlled type having the handle 25 thereof overbalancing the tooth end, as will be apparent from inspection of Fig. 1.

The handle or lever D coperates with the arcuate rack F, the latter having a series of notches 26 arranged as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and with which the lever D is adapted to engage. The rack F has a loop 27 extending over the lever so that the latter is held in operative relation with the rack F.

The operation is as follows: To wind the chain, the operator rotates the hand wheel C in a clockwise direction and thereby irnposes tension on the brake chain. The wheel and drum will be held against reverse rotation by the gravity-controlled locking dog E, it being understood that the lever D is engaged with one of the notches of the arcuate rack F and preferably in the position shown in Fig. 1. In actual practice, the operator will use the hand wheel to obtain a considerable tension without unduly exerting himself and in many instances, the tension obtained by the use of the hand wheel will be suilicient. When, however, a greater tension on the brake chain is desired for rapid braking of the car, the operatonwill then pull the lever D in the direction lndlcated by the arrow a, in F ig. l. Thelever will be ulled to the desired degree and then en agedjin one of the adjacent notches 2G.

Viththe 'arrangement above described, I am enabled to ei'ect a relatively rapid winding of the chain durin the first portion of the;A winding action an to then obtain the finaltightening effect by meansaffordlng an appreembl 'fhigher leverage ratio than could beobtaine byntha hand wheel. In thls mannen "tI a @avoid i the slower usual ratchetmg movement -.required.to produce the entire windingfaction. :To obtain the release, the operator 'merely disenga es the locking dog E 4from the ratchetY whee 22.

I Claim: 1' l Li In a Winding mechanism, the combination with a rotatable element, of a manually Operable :member for rotating said element to eifect lthe first part of the Winding movement, a ratchetwheel rotatable in unison with ysaid element, a locking dog coperable with -said ratchetwheel to'prevent reverse notation of said element, and a second manualiiybperablermember for rotating said elenient, said-second :named y member affording aigleftter, letienage ratiothan the first named member, said; ratchet Wheel being carried by the iir'stnnamedllmember and the locking dog by the :second named member.

2.11m a-ihand brake mechanism for cars r-iff. frf', 1' copiee of this patenten be obtained for and the like the combination with a casing having a chain winding drum rotatably mounted therein, of a hand operating Wheel for rotating said drum, a ratchet wheel rigid with respect to the drum and wheel, a hand lever journaled about the same axis as said drum, a rack coperable with said lever, and a locking dog carried by said lever and cooperable with said ratchet wheel.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with an element adapted to be rotated, of means for directly rotating said element, a manually operable member, means for directly engaging said manually operable member arran ed to pre` vent the latter from moving accidentally in one direction, ratchet means interposed be tween said manually operable member and said element arranged to prevent rotation of said element in one direction when said memv ber is held, said ratchet means permittingl Said element to be rotated in the opposite direction by Said means for directly rotating said clement, said n'ninnally operable meniber being adapted to rotate said element through the intermediary of said ratchet means, said manually operable member having greater leverage with respect to said rotatable element than the means for directly rotating said element.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 12th day of April, 1918.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

nve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

